Number of Officers Investigation the New York City Mob

During the heyday of the New York City Mafia in the 1970s and 1980s, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) dedicated a squad of agents to each of the Five Mafia Families in the NYC: the Bonanno, Colombo, Gambino, Genovese, and Luchese families.

According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, in 2014 the FBI had two squads investigating all five families. One squad, identified as C-5, investigates the Bonannos, Colombos and Genoveses families, while the C-16 squad investigates the Gambinos and Lucheses.

Investigation of organized crime activities has fallen in the United States and in New York City as law enforcement priorities shifted to other areas. A 2010 report by the Inspector General listed the priorities of the FBI. The bureau’s top priority was terrorism, followed by espionage, cybercrime, public corruption, protection civil rights, and battling organized crime groups coming in sixth.

The New York Police Department has also cut its funding and staffing for organized crime investigations. In 2014, the NYPD had about 5,000 detectives, about 2,000 detectives below the 2002 staffing levels.